Sharing a Companionship

An exchange of views with an American Protestant. “I was attracted by this strange friendship you have with each other”

Mike Eppler is the director of the diocesan Youth Program in Evansville, Indiana. During some humanities clases he taught last spring at the University of Southern Indiana, he met Rob, a student of his who is a Baptist. Here is a recent exchange of letters between them

Dear Mike,
I am starting to see God’s purpose for me in belonging to this phenomenon called Communion and Liberation. Mike, I absolutely love it. I am sorry about last Monday… how I didn’t go. The semester is wrapping up and I had a calculus test to study for and a presentation to do for another class. Both went well only by the Grace of God. My friend, I have done a lot of thinking and praying and also comparing. Before I got involved in CL, I was in the College Group at Christian Fellowship Church. I am by no means comparing the people in the groups. I do love the people in the College Group, but the only thing is that I feel that they really don’t know what is going on in life, in reality. Anyway, that’s not the issue. My question to you is this: what do you think is more important for a group like my College Group? Is it better for them to focus on the community of believers that they already have or is it more important for them to focus on evangelizing out at USI? After meeting this group that you invited me to, I absolutely love them. Something struck me about them at first. In a good way, of course. From what I see at CL, I believe that you guys focus on belonging first because it is most important. Don’t get me wrong, evangelism has its place, but I believe that it should come naturally. It should be overbearing but gentle at the same time. Let me explain: Whenever I first came to the group, do you remember what I wrote as a response? I wrote that the people (I now consider them friends) were loving and showed me hospitality beyond belief (to the point where I now help do music for them and attend all of the School of Community meetings). Mike, if the focus is placed on the community, where everyone genuinely loves one another with the same love that Christ has, tell me how that could not draw people? It definitely drew me. People on the outside of this group see that. People on the outside can recognize that your and my friends in CL can see everything. You guys can see reality for what it is. And you can see people for who they really are. Take for example Tim (I’m not sure if that’s his name), the tattoo guy at the Gerst. You said that he was drawn to the group. I have noticed him too. He is interested in this strange friendship you have with each other and he is attracted to it, like I was.Also, the group has grown since I first started out in late September. Now, back to what I was saying earlier about how evangelism should be overbearing but also gentle. That was the effect that this group had on me. They weren’t seeking to change me–after all, I am the Protestant one. They showed me kindness even when I didn’t understand some of the things you Catholics do. But I remember that you said this group can help me to be a better Protestant. Really, though, I don’t like the word Protestant. Instead, help me to be a better Christian. Mike, after what I have said, do you believe that it would be better to continue to evangelize at USI or put the focus on CFC’s College Group community? I believe, my friend, that if the focus is put on the community of believers, nonbelievers will see that and be drawn to that. And I also believe that it will help lead them to this phenomenon called Christ.
God bless you my friend,
Rob
December 3, 2002

Dear Rob,
To answer your question(s): It is not about fixing anyone or even about belonging to a “group.” Christianity is not about a group. It is about Being and recognizing the Mystery who has presented Himself, in the flesh. I am a man. I am a man who has recognized a powerful Presence who imposed Himself on me in the form of a companionship, in the form of a friendship. To “evangelize” is not so much telling others how they should behave. It is not telling others about the redemption of Jesus Christ. It is not so much the method of imposing an emotion or a feeling upon others in such a way that your proposal is one of many that can or cannot be disregarded. You meet a man. He moves you. You follow. How did you meet this man? In friends that are genuine and authentic. These friends bear a memory of Jesus that is so profound and original in its implications that you cannot but stop and ponder. This is what you have written to me. This friendship you speak of about the community is nothing other than the Presence who has imposed Himself on you. But, my brother, it is particular and original in you. You meet a man. You find a friendship. You encounter this exceptional Presence. It is no longer a feeling or an emotion. You have met Someone who has provoked you and you have responded. It is rational and intellectual. It is real and concrete. It is the bearing of Being that has revealed Himself to you. If you wish to be a better Christian, you must look for and recognize the traces of Christ’s Presence throughout reality… in all things. In your studies, in your work, in your friendships, in your life, in all these contexts, Christ reveals Himself to you. In this manner, this is not just a matter of being in a group. It is a matter of being. Our friendship is a friendship that remembers this Presence and it recognizes it when it appears in our daily lives (in work especially, but also in the culture, in education, in our helping others in charity). In this way, if you have followed the road who is Christ (and He is the road, not just a road among many), your life will provoke others who will ask why you are the way that you are, and who will be moved by your testimony of the things that you have seen… which is the same provocation you have found in this friendship. My brother, I love you like no other in this community. Your rational, intellectual questioning coupled with your desires are exactly where Christ has entered the community. Stay with your friends at CFC. They need you now more than ever! But bear for them the memory of this encounter, this moment when you met this man. No matter what may happen, this can never be taken away from you…. And I am here too. I will see you at School of Community and I desire to speak at greater length about this. You are such a good man and I am happy to call you my friend.
Affectionately,
Mike
December 4, 2002